Accepting the B-52 is expected to reach 100 as a high level stand-off bomb truck…. The F-35 first flew in 2006, that means 62 years until retirement.
Thats as if the Soowith Camel flew in front line service until 1979, the Spitfire until 1998 or the EE Lighting till 2016…
I presume the lower annual costs will be achieved by increased simulator use until pilots only fly a monthly check flight….
https://www.defensenews.com/air/2024...says-watchdog/
F-35s to cost $2 trillion as Pentagon plans longer use, says watchdog
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter’s total cost is expected to top $2 trillion over its entire life span given the U.S. military plans to fly it longer, inflation is rising, and the Pentagon’s efforts to rein in expenses are largely falling short, a government watchdog said Monday.….
In the new report to lawmakers, GAO said the Defense Department now plans to fly the F-35 through 2088, 11 years longer than services most recently anticipated…..
The reason services are making progress toward meeting their affordability targets is partly because projected flying hours have been reduced, GAO said.
In 2020, the JPO expected the F-35 fleet would fly more than 382,000 hours per year by the mid-2030s. But that estimate has now dropped to a little more than 300,000 hours per year, GAO said, due to lower-than-expected use of the F-35 so far and revised estimates about how much it will be flown in the future.….